Folding chair



Jan. 16, 1951 H. R. WILKINSON, JR

FOLDING CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 16, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Jan. 16, 1951 I H. R. WILKINSON, JR 2,538,637

FOLDING CHAIR Filed Feb. 16, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a [In- I Z in?! '55 55 52 .54 53 IN VEN TOR.

' .form of chair.

Patented Jan. 16, .1951

. "FOLDING CHAIR ;-l-Iar,ry-.R.--Wilkinson, J r.,.New 52011:, N. ApplicationfiFebruary 16, 1949, Serial No..7'6,779

.5 Claims. (Cl. 155141) This invention relates to articles -'of furniture and "relates more particularly-to a novel fold- ;in'g chair which, when set up for use, has the sametappearance as any conventional type of frigid chair.

An important object of the invention isto provide an improved fold ng chair which wil1 retain I a :high measure of rigidity, when in set-up eondition zduringits entire period of usefulness.

'Another object of theinven'tion is to provide in 'a folding chair a -novel interlocking arrangementpf parts togive stability to the chair when in open position and which also permits the ehairto 'be'instantly folded when not in use and to occupy aminimum amountof "space.

'The usual rigid chair of the dining room type is provided with railsextending between the legs at their upper ends. In accordance with the present invention these two rails along opposed sides of-the chair are each formed in two sections, hinged together at their centers and which are arranged to move in ardly to folded position while the seat, pivoted along-its forward edge to the front rail, is swung upwardly'and 'is arranged to overlie the seat back "when in folded position.

In "the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a "per pective view of a folding chair embodying the present invention.

Fig. '2 is a broken central vertical section thereof.

Fig. '3 "-is a plan view of-the seat section \of the chair partially in section.

Fig=4 is a horizontalsection of the lowerportion of the-chair in'iolded'position.

Fig. 5 isa'broken vertical section aofzth'e chair in folded position.

Atially ifolded position.

The :chair constituting the first embodiment of the present invention'is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, "inclusive. :Itcomprises a "front assembly .anda rear assemblynwhich are-joined together and arranged to move from open to closed .position. The front assembly includes .frontlegs :and H permeated at :their .lower ends :by ea rung 11-2 :and at their upper ends lay .a seat supporting rail I13. ;'.Ehe "rear assembly includes .legs :14 and [5 connected at their lower ends by a rung -l6, iritermediate their ends by a seat supporting rail (fl, and at their upperends by 'acushioned back rest i8.'

The seat 2.! comprises a base member '22 and a --cus'hion element '23, the base being hinged at 2 4- on front rail 13. The base is reinforced by side rails '25. It was earlier pointed out that the side, seat-supporting rails were formed in -two parts and hinged together at their-"centers ".which is the specific construction of'thesecOnd embodiinent oi the invention. In the first :em- "bodiment, however, there are provided side seat supporting rails '25 which are securedto the seat and also the supplemental seat supportin rails which are "formed in two'parts and 31 which are'hiilged 'togeth'erat 32 :and at-their other ends they are hinged on brackets 33 :andit l secured to the front and "rear 'legs respectively. These rails'areof channel "shape and the hinge 3-2 is of such construction as "to' limit outward movement of the parts to the straight line position of 'Fig. 3. "The lower surface-ofthe seat is further ,procvided with a transversersu'pport -38-which in Fig. :shown in broken lines for the reason that :this support lies tothe rear of the sectionxlines in' FigLB. Its showing 'in'Fig. 6 is made rfor-the purpose of illustrating:thecOhtOllr of the opposed ends of :the -;support which are diagonally inclined as shownat 35 forithe purpose of moving -the :two part side rails 30-3! v to straight :line position when the "seat is beingmoved .from folded to open position.

When the seat is in its fully open positionas shownin (Figs. 1,2, .3 and .6, the seat rests on :rear .rail "l1 and ou the .two part hinged side rails 3fi.3l. ,The seat has rear =-corner notches --3.6.'to-,c1ear ;-rear legs .54 and 1.5 when .in this sposition. It willalso be apparent .from.an.exameination of Fig. .3 that transverse support 38 retains :the hinged .rail-s. 38-13! in straight linepo- .sition by contact-of its ends 36 with these mem- .Lbersadjacentithe hinge point 32. The notched corner sections/3.6 .of the seat 'sfirmly iengage't'he rear legs and the whole structure "is thus well braced andsturdy.

When it ,is desired .to fold. the chair theyseat is I raised to vertical position and the raised seat lihen movedlatera'lly ofithe back assembly which .tends to .eause .the hinged rails"3fl3l-'to 'break from their straightelin'e position and "move towards the collapsedpositionof Fig. ,4. This 0p;- eration should be performed while :the *chairiis tilted .rearwardly 'and "is -standing on gills hack legs. The seat 1 is then moved rearwardly, carrying with 'it'the front assembly and "when front 'straight line position.

in use.

at its other end to the seat at 61.

-in such cases the rear rail section 3| is folded, the hinges are not visible. -to-wood hinges of the prior art convention-hall meets back the chair is fully folded, the twopivot hinge 24 aiding in this folding action. A latch 21 may be employed for holdin the front and rear sections to folded position, as shown in Fig. 4. The axes of hinge elements 32, 33 and 34 are shown by broken lines. The lowersections of the rear legs are inclined somewhat forwardly at their upper ends and in order to cause the front'and back legs to be generally parallel when in folded position the axes of the hinge elements 32, 33 and 34, when in open position are not parallel but rather have the relation-indicated by broken lines A, B and C in Fig. 2. Thus, when in folded position they are generally parallel as shown in Fig. 5.

To open the chair the front rail I3 is grasped by the hand and the front assembly moved forwardly, also while the chair is resting on its back legs, thus causing the rails 303| to move in the direction of their straight-line position. When this position has almost been reached the seat is swung downwardly and the diagonal terminals 35 of support 3-8 moves the parts 3l33l to their These diagonal terminals also prevent the chair from collapsing while it is If the seat is constructed as a metal or wood frame the cushion element may extend downwardly between the two-part side rails and if desired the seat may be hinged on the back assembly rather than the front.

In the modified structure of Figs. 7, 8 and 9 the fixed side rails are omitted. The front assem- '56 and by back rest 5 l.

Each side rail in this instance comprises parts 52 and 53 connected by hinge 54 and connected at opposite ends to the front and rear assemblies by hinges 55 and 55. respectively.

Relatively short links 59 and 69 are pivotally connected at one end thereof to the side rails 5253 at 6! and '62 ad acent the point of the central hinge 54. At their opposite ends they are pivotally connected at 63 and 64 to the bottom of the seat. A somewhat longer link 65 is con nected at 65 to one of the rear wall parts 53 and It will be noted that the seat has a recess l0 extending around its sides which forms a shoulder H which is engaged by the side rails and by the front andv back rails. The parts are in the position of Figs. 7 and 8 when the chair is open and ready for use. rails.

The seat is supported by all four side To fold the chair the seat is raised as in The chairs of both embodiments are shown as having seats of substantially the same width in the back as in the front. If desired, however,

the back can be more narrow than the front and will be slightly shorter than the front rail.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided a novel chair which can be folded to small dimensions and which eliminates the fold- .ing chair appearance since when it is set up for use there is no external evidence of hinges,

Even when the chair All metalbraces,-links or the like.

type of folding chairs have been eliminated.

; A lso, the chair may be constructed in any style or period without materially changing the mechanical structure.

While two forms or embodiment of the invention have been shown and described herein for illustrative purposes, and the construction and arrangement incidental to specific applications thereof have been disclosed and discussed in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is limited neither to the mere details or relative arrangement of parts, nor to its specific embodiments shown herein, but that extensive deviations from the illustrated forms or embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the principles thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A folding chair comprising an interconnected front and rear assembly and a hinged seat carried by the front assembly, such front assembly including spaced legs and a seat-supporting rail connecting the legs at their upper ends, the rear assembly including spaced legs, a seat-supporting rail connecting such legs and a back rest connecting the upper sections of such legs, a two-part seat supporting rail on each side of the chair and arranged to underlie an edge of the seat when in open position, each such rail being hinged together adjacent its center and being hinged at opposite ends thereof to the front and rear assemblies, respectively, and arranged to swing inwardly when the chair is folded and shoulders form d on opposite sides of the lower surface of the seat limiting inward movement of the twopart rails when the seat is in lowered position.

A folding chair comprising an interconnected front and rear assembly and a seat carried by the front assembly, such front assembly including spaced legs and a seat-supporting rail connecting the legs at their upper ends and hinged means connecting the seat with saidrail, the rear assembly including spaced legs of greater length than the front legs, a seat supporting rail connecting the legs and a back rest connecting the upper sections of such legs, a two-part seat supporting rail on each side of the chair, each such rail being hinged together adjacent its center and being hinged at opposite ends to the front and rear legs, respectively, on each side of the chair and arranged to swing inwardly when the chair is folded, a transverse support on the lower surface of the seat and provided with diagonally inclined terminals engage the hinged rails during downward movement of the seat and move them outwardly to a straight-line position.

3. A folding chair comprising an interconnected front and rear assembly and a hinged seat carried by one of the assemblies, such front assembly including legs and a seat supporting rail connecting the legs at their upper ends, the'rear assembly including legs extending to a greater height than the front legs, a seat-supporting rail connecting the legs and a back rest connecting the upper sections of such legs, a two-part seat supporting rail on each side' of the chair, each such rail being hinged together at its center and being hinged at opposite ends to the front and rear assemblies respectively, and arranged to the chair is open.

4. A folding chair comprising an interconnected front and rear assembly and a hinged seat carried by the front assembly, such front assembly including spaced legs and a seat-supporting'rail connecting the legs at their upper ends, the rear assembly including spaced legs, a seat-supporting rail connecting such legs and a back rest connecting the upper sections of such legs, a twopart seat supporting rail on each side of the chair, each such rail being hinged together adjacent its center and being hinged at opposite ends thereof to the front and rear assemblies, respectively, and arranged to swing inwardly when the chair is folded, links connecting the side rails with the seat so as to cause the side rails to move inwardly to folded position as the seat is raised.

5. A folding chair comprising an interconnected front and rear assembly and a hinged seat carried by the front assembly, such front assembly including legs and a-seat-supporting rail connecting such legs at their upper ends, the rear assembly including legs extending to a, greater height than the front legs, a seat supporting rail connecting such legs and a back rest connecting the upper sections of such legs, a two-part seat supporting rail on each side of the chair and arranged to underlie the edge of the seat in generally straight-line position when the chair is open, each such rail being hinged together adjacent its center and being hinged at opposite ends thereof to the front and rear assemblies, respectively, and arranged to swing inwardly when the chair is folded, links pivotally connected at one end thereof to the said side rails near their intermediate hinge points and at their opposite ends to the seat so as to cause the side rails to move inwardly to folded position as the seat is raised and to retain the side rails in their straight-line relation when the chair is open. I

HARRY R. WILKINSON, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 214,174 Morse Apr. 8, 1879 1,428,627 Grabfelder Sept. 12, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 280,054 Italy Nov. 29, 1930 821,142 France Aug. 17, 1937 

